April 2009

It’s day baseball down in San Diego and Blake DeWitt gets the chance to show his stuff at shortstop. Joe Torre has said that he wants to make sure that on a day game after a night game, we don’t push Raffy too hard, too early. He also mentioned that Russell will get tomorrow off in AZ.

It’s a great day but I didn’t start it off very well by failing to post the lineup early. Apologies to all. But right now, we’re in the top of the fourth and the first inning brought a great rally off Jake Peavy, the third inning saw Andre Ethier make someone pay for walking Manny Ramirez and now James Loney continued his quest for a 1.000 average this season with his second hit (and first steal). Still six innings of baseball to go, but you’ve got to be encouraged for the first three innings of nearly 1,500 frames this season.

Meanwhile, it’s a perfect day here in San Diego. The park is filled, the weather is nice, and let’s be honest, we’ve all been waiting several months for today to come. Enjoy it

Programming note: Tomorrow from 2-7 p.m. on KABC, you can hear an extended version of DodgerTalk with Ken Levine and Josh Suchon…among the guests they’ll have on are Ned Colletti, Eric Karros and a number of different reporters from around the NL West breaking down the division. They’ll also give regular updates about the game in San Francisco.

And now this, from team historian Mark Langill…

Rookie second baseman Jim Lefebvre had big plans for his first Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on April 20, 1965. After spending the first week on the road to begin the season, the Dodgers played host to the lowly New York Mets and their 43-year-old starting pitcher.

Lefebvre, who grew up in nearby Inglewood, invited his friends and family to the team’s home opener. By the end of the night, he was fuming after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts against future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, who scattered eight hits in a 3-2 victory. It was one of the last gems for Spahn, who went a combined 7-16 with the Mets and Giants during his final Major League season in 1965.

After the game, Lefebvre angrily made a scene near the dugout tunnel and began tossing bats when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a familiar face.

According to Lefebvre, pitcher Sandy Koufax calmly advised, “We don’t do that around here; we save the fight for the field. You might as well go back to the minors if you’re going to act that way.”

Lefebvre, who went on to win National League Rookie of the Year honors in 1965, recalled that story last summer visiting Dodger Stadium as coach of the Chinese national baseball team during preparations for the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also had a chance during a stadium tour to show Team China a photo of the final out of the 1965 World Series at Minnesota in which Lefebvre and first baseman Wes Parker are rushing to congratulate Koufax after his 2-0 victory in Game 7.

Lefebvre, who played with Los Angeles through 1972, is now the hitting coach of the San Diego Padres.

The first game of the year is tonight, and everyone’s awaiting your arrival here.

The lineup looks awfully close to what we’ll see on Opening Day:

Furcal, SS

Hudson, 2B

Manny, LF

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

Blake, P

Wolf, P

We’ll be on KCAL for the game tonight and then after, switch to PRIME TICKET for a special Dodgers Insider on Manny Ramirez at 10:30. It’ll be everything about the guy, from the time he arrived through his return to the club at Camelback Ranch!

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.